The Guy Behind "The Fox"—The Summer's Funniest Music Video—Talks About Going Viral

That's the music video for "The Fox," an infectious, wacky, and exuberantly funny new song by Norwegian entertainment duo Ylvis. It was posted to YouTube on Tuesday and is already a hit. Gawker hails it as the true "Song of the Summer," beating Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" and Daft Punk's "Get Lucky." BuzzFeed praises it as perhaps the greatest music video on the internet. The Weekthinks it might be the "'GangnamStyle' of 2013." USA Today has weighed in, proclaiming it "the next viral music-video sensation."

The video (directed by Ole Martin Hafsmo) depicts a man in an orange fox costume who dances and belts out noises a fox might make, including "gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!" and "fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!" As you can tell, the lyrics (posted below) get creative and sort of insane with its answers.

For the vast majority of Americans, "The Fox" will be their introduction to Ylvis, a musical-comedy act inspired by artists such as The Lonely Island, Tenacious D, and Flight of the Conchords. But the duo (brothers Bård and Vegard Ylvisåker) is an established act in Norway, where they have their own talk show. The music video was meant to promote the show's new season, but to the shock of its creators, it's taken on a life of its own.

"To be honest I am quite surprised!" Bård tells Mother Jones. "This song is made for a TV show and is supposed to entertain a few Norwegians for three minutes—and that's all. It was done just a few days ago and we recently had a screening in our office. About 10 people watched—nobody laughed."

"The Fox" was co-written by Ylvis and their colleague Christian Løchstøer, and produced by Stargate, a Norwegian production team that has worked with Rihanna, Katy Perry, and other major-league pop stars. "For some reason they agreed to produce the song and the rest is history," Bård says. "There was actually no great plan behind this [song]. We just thought it would be a fun song and video to make. And it was."

When I asked Bård what inspired them to write a goofy pop song that focuses on things a fox might exclaim (as opposed to other animals), he said that it was a generally motivated by curiosity. "Well, there is some genuine wondering as to what the fox really says," he tells me. "I guess we wanted to contribute with some suggestions. I mean, who cares what the shark says?"

With the new wave of attention Ylvis is sure to receive, the duo is still awaiting their invitations to perform in the US. As for the next step in their career? "I guess hosting the next Oscars would do," Bård says.

Now here are the animal-and-sound-effects-filled lyrics to "The Fox" (via Dennis Bonilla):